Drying Hydrangeas

Hello! This blog post is a little dedication to the beautifully big bouncy headed hydrangea. I know not everyone is a fan on this shrub, to be honest I didn't use to be but isn't that one of the wonderful things about flowers, you can really learn to appreciate them the more you get to know them. Oh and of course, not forgetting, they make the perfect dried bloom!

I think it must be the question we get asked on Instagram more than any other is how to dry a hydrangea successfully. I think hydrangeas are quite different from other flowers that dry due to the fact they hold so much moisture. So here is a little guidance as to how we dry our hydrangea heads, hopefully it will be useful to you.

Hydrangeas appreciate a shady to semi shady spot in the garden, as they require a lot of watering, they can retain a little more moisture when out of full sunlight. As well as watering regularly make sure you also give them a little feed to keep them happy and healthy.

Generally the time to cut hydrangeas for drying is around September but this can vary around the country, so just try and keep an eye on yours in the garden. Please be patient though as the fresh blooms contain too much water and will simply lead to withered petals. When cutting the heads remember to leave some heads on the plant for winter protection. Also don’t cut the stem too long, if you do you run the risk of damaging next years growth.

These are all photographs of fresh hydrangeas:

The touch of the petal is a very good indication as to whether the hydrangea will dry. You are looking for a waxy feel and if its lost its suppleness, its less petal like. A more firm feel. Once the petals texture has changed you are ready to cut your heads to bring inside. Below I have added some photographs of hydrangeas that are ready to dry, you can see the colour and texture has changed:

A hydrangea head ready for drying.

Once you bring your hydrangeas indoors strip off any leaves, and then you have got two ways in which you can dry them. Firstly you can hang them up, you simply need hang them out of direct sunlight, upside down and in a warm ventilated spot. Direct sunlight will cause them to discolour and go brown. The second option is to pop the heads in some water, if you chose this method cut the stems diagonally and at different heights to enable good air circulation of each individual bloom and again keep them out of direct sunlight.

Laceheads and Mopheads both dry beautifully. The hydrangeas with smaller petals, for example Annabelle, will dry but are a lot more delicate. You may want to use your hydrangeas to decorate something or simply display them in a pot, have some fun with experimenting.

One last little note that is worth remembering, that the more intense the colour of the hydrangea, the better the colour will be as a dried bloom, so bare this in mind when you are deciding which heads to cut.

I really hope you found this useful. As you can see the drying process is very simple, with hydrangeas it is all down to the timing of the picking.

Emma x